Let me clarify: I work retail for a telecomm company and have been witness to people walking in, slashing displays with big honking pocket knives, and running off with phones. I suspect the phones end up on craigslist or in pawn shops, but still..

Right now I have 2 Samsung Intercepts and 2 LG Optimus Sliders in my drawer. Probably worth about $100 total between the 4 of them. Trade them in for a new off-contract phone, sell said phone, pocket cash?

Alternately, buy up all the worthless low-end hardware off eBay to trade in. "Cash for clunkers" smartphone edition?

Batteries and chargers for the old phones can be had for $10-20 total on eBay if required. Thanks AT&T!

Let me clarify: I work retail for a telecomm company and have been witness to people walking in, slashing displays with big honking pocket knives, and running off with phones. I suspect the phones end up on craigslist or in pawn shops, but still..

You stock phones on the store floor? For what telecom company do you work?? I worked for Cingular on their storefronts in college, and we used dummy phones on the floor. All the real phones - and their precious boxes - were stored in the back, under lock and key. We had some morons steal rubber demo units on occasion, but don't think anybody ever made off with any real phones from that back room.

But maybe we were just ahead of the curve or something. It was 2003, though, so not sure that makes sense.

Let me clarify: I work retail for a telecomm company and have been witness to people walking in, slashing displays with big honking pocket knives, and running off with phones. I suspect the phones end up on craigslist or in pawn shops, but still..

You stock phones on the store floor? For what telecom company do you work?? I worked for Cingular on their storefronts in college, and we used dummy phones on the floor. All the real phones - and their precious boxes - were stored in the back, under lock and key. We had some morons steal rubber demo units on occasion, but don't think anybody ever made off with any real phones from that back room.

But maybe we were just ahead of the curve or something. It was 2003, though, so not sure that makes sense.

I think they only did that with dumbphones... Every AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint store I've been to, always has the actual phone tethered to the display... For smart-phones, potential customers like being able to feel the phone, to see how much it weighs in their hands, as well as navigate the UI. You can't do those things on a plastic model. And I've never seen anyplace that uses plastic models, use weighted models. Most of the time, I've only seen those reseller/kiosks in the mall use those plastic models... Usually when I feel it, and I know it's a model, I don't even bother wasting my time at the Kiosk.

Let me clarify: I work retail for a telecomm company and have been witness to people walking in, slashing displays with big honking pocket knives, and running off with phones. I suspect the phones end up on craigslist or in pawn shops, but still..

You stock phones on the store floor? For what telecom company do you work?? I worked for Cingular on their storefronts in college, and we used dummy phones on the floor. All the real phones - and their precious boxes - were stored in the back, under lock and key. We had some morons steal rubber demo units on occasion, but don't think anybody ever made off with any real phones from that back room.

But maybe we were just ahead of the curve or something. It was 2003, though, so not sure that makes sense.

I think they only did that with dumbphones... Every AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint store I've been to, always has the actual phone tethered to the display... For smart-phones, potential customers like being able to feel the phone, to see how much it weighs in their hands, as well as navigate the UI. You can't do those things on a plastic model. And I've never seen anyplace that uses plastic models, use weighted models. Most of the time, I've only seen those reseller/kiosks in the mall use those plastic models... Usually when I feel it, and I know it's a model, I don't even bother wasting my time at the Kiosk.

That makes infinitely more sense. Guess it's been a while since I've been to a cell phone store. Opens up another question, though: isn't it pretty easy to track smart phones? I feel like location services are available on pretty much all of those by default, but I guess could be disabled easily enough by a thief?

Let me clarify: I work retail for a telecomm company and have been witness to people walking in, slashing displays with big honking pocket knives, and running off with phones. I suspect the phones end up on craigslist or in pawn shops, but still..

You stock phones on the store floor? For what telecom company do you work?? I worked for Cingular on their storefronts in college, and we used dummy phones on the floor. All the real phones - and their precious boxes - were stored in the back, under lock and key. We had some morons steal rubber demo units on occasion, but don't think anybody ever made off with any real phones from that back room.

But maybe we were just ahead of the curve or something. It was 2003, though, so not sure that makes sense.

Every AT&T, Verizon and Sprint store (not a kiosk, not Best Buy's "store") I've been in has actual, functioning phones. If someone wants to be brash, they'll run off with just about anything.

Curious to see how people will abuse this deal and how AT&T will combat it. There's gotta be lots of really crappy, cheap "smartphones" made 2-3 years ago that still work but are not worth nearly $100. Collect, trade in, take new phone to T-Mobile for no-contract service.

That makes infinitely more sense. Guess it's been a while since I've been to a cell phone store. Opens up another question, though: isn't it pretty easy to track smart phones? I feel like location services are available on pretty much all of those by default, but I guess could be disabled easily enough by a thief?

Turn off the GPS, put it in airplane mode, turn phone off entirely, pull the battery - lots of ways to prevent it "phoning home." At least until you want to use it, that is.

Curious to see how people will abuse this deal and how AT&T will combat it. There's gotta be lots of really crappy, cheap "smartphones" made 2-3 years ago that still work but are not worth nearly $100. Collect, trade in, take new phone to T-Mobile for no-contract service.

That makes infinitely more sense. Guess it's been a while since I've been to a cell phone store. Opens up another question, though: isn't it pretty easy to track smart phones? I feel like location services are available on pretty much all of those by default, but I guess could be disabled easily enough by a thief?

Turn off the GPS, put it in airplane mode, turn phone off entirely, pull the battery - lots of ways to prevent it "phoning home." At least until you want to use it, that is.

A quick search on eBay shows that the old HTC Aria I have lying around (released June 20, 2010, so it qualifies) is selling for $50 - $75. So AT&T is actually offering better than the going rate for my almost 3 year old phone. I didn't expect AT&T to be remotely close to the going prices.

Here in Australia, EB (Electronics Boutique) is arguably the biggest chain of Bricks and Mortar software peddlers across the country. They BUY 'used' iDevices, but they don't SELL them in the local market. All the devices they buy, they then sell to some other country. They don't pay much either -- bored kids ditching their (paid-for-by-parents) $700 iPhone 4s in exchange for two AAA games, BARGAIN!

The trade-in page requests some information about the phone: make, model, ESN, condition, etc. After typing in the info for my Motorola Atrix (released Feb 2011, so it's about 2 years & 2 months old, in perfect condition), the site tells me that the trade in value is....... $30.

The trade-in page requests some information about the phone: make, model, ESN, condition, etc. After typing in the info for my Motorola Atrix (released Feb 2011, so it's about 2 years & 2 months old, in perfect condition), the site tells me that the trade in value is....... $30.

What a freaking rip-off. What happened to "at least $100"?

Pretty wack. I have the same phone, and am starting to look for an upgrade. Used Atrixes routinely go for around $100-150 on ebay, definitely look there instead.

ATT offered $48 for my 32GB iphone 4. They go for over $100 on ebay all day long.

edit: I just read the press release. Yeah, they say at least $100. Typical AT&T, all smoke & mirrors. Thankfully they didn't sucker me in with a great offer, I can jump ship at the end of the year when my wife's contract is up.

ATT offered $48 for my 32GB iphone 4. They go for over $100 on ebay all day long.

edit: I just read the press release. Yeah, they say at least $100. Typical AT&T, all smoke & mirrors. Thankfully they didn't sucker me in with a great offer, I can jump ship at the end of the year when my wife's contract is up.

To be fair, it's noticeably more effort to ebay your old phone. The people using this offer would probably just toss the phone or leave it in a drawer or something. For them it's a net positive.

Too bad AT&T has crappy coverage out here in the hills. It's basically Verizon or the local CDMA provider if you want decent signal. I had an AT&T phone when I first moved here, but wound up having to go Verizon just so I could actually call folks reliably.

I'd love to see a GSM provider out here, but we get a token one or two towers and that's it. Everything else is CDMA.

The trade-in page requests some information about the phone: make, model, ESN, condition, etc. After typing in the info for my Motorola Atrix (released Feb 2011, so it's about 2 years & 2 months old, in perfect condition), the site tells me that the trade in value is....... $30.

Just upgraded to an iphone 5- 2 weeks ago from AT&T. before AT&T announced this offer. wanting to recirculate my old 16G 4. Gazelle offered me $150, which I graciously accepted. Unsigned (above) was offered $48 for his 32G iphone 4. Seems like there a lot better deals around than the AT&T offering, unless you are really really lazy.

ATT offered $48 for my 32GB iphone 4. They go for over $100 on ebay all day long.

AT&T (and the rest) also sell "Smart"phones that were obsolete 2 years before they were released, let alone when they're pushing them out to consumers. People who think it's a good idea to save $2 a month over the life of their contract to get the "Free" phone.

I'm sure if AT&T gave them $5.85 they'd be thrilled. $50 for an old iPhone is probably a dream come true to some people (who are lazy)

Let me clarify: I work retail for a telecomm company and have been witness to people walking in, slashing displays with big honking pocket knives, and running off with phones. I suspect the phones end up on craigslist or in pawn shops, but still..

You stock phones on the store floor? For what telecom company do you work?? I worked for Cingular on their storefronts in college, and we used dummy phones on the floor. All the real phones - and their precious boxes - were stored in the back, under lock and key. We had some morons steal rubber demo units on occasion, but don't think anybody ever made off with any real phones from that back room.

But maybe we were just ahead of the curve or something. It was 2003, though, so not sure that makes sense.

Most of the telecom stores around here do. The local Verizon "authorized retailer" (not an actual Verizon store) doesn't though.

I don't know why so many people are having problems, but I tried my Samsung Galaxy S II (released in November 2011) and my old Samsung Galaxy S (released in June 2010), and AT&T's site told me that both are worth $100. Personally, that seems like a steal for my "ancient" Captivate.

The only thing I'm unclear about is if the standard pricing applies as far as a new two year contract goes. I upgraded my phone last summer, so it's still a while before my contract expires...

The press release said the program was effective May 1, apparently they really May 1 even though the website was live before then.

Last night their site offered me $30 for my Atrix, today it's offering $100. While that is a bit less than the going rate on eBay ($150), it's less of a hassle. Since they're also offering more than the going rate for my old Aria ($100 from AT&T, $50-$75 on eBay), it balances out.

This is actually a pretty sweet deal if you've got some nearly 3 year old phones.

Let me clarify: I work retail for a telecomm company and have been witness to people walking in, slashing displays with big honking pocket knives, and running off with phones. I suspect the phones end up on craigslist or in pawn shops, but still..

You stock phones on the store floor? For what telecom company do you work?? I worked for Cingular on their storefronts in college, and we used dummy phones on the floor. All the real phones - and their precious boxes - were stored in the back, under lock and key. We had some morons steal rubber demo units on occasion, but don't think anybody ever made off with any real phones from that back room.

But maybe we were just ahead of the curve or something. It was 2003, though, so not sure that makes sense.

I haven't walked into a phone store recently that doesn't have live phones on the floor...I do remember when our store had dummies and they later switched to live phones.

It's not clear from the press release whether the announced trade in program is the same as the one at that link. The fact that using that link seems to result in very different trade in values from those quoted in the release suggests that they're not the same. So it's probably good that Casey didn't put the link in the article under assumption that they were.

LG Optimus G (E971 version), which is less than 6? months old, is only worth $100 trade-in? Really?

Not that I'm wanting to sell the phone or anything, just curious what they'd offer, but still. $100? For a $600 phone that's still being sold by most carriers in Canada and the US? And there are older phones, with far lower specs, being offered more than $100?

Pretty sure clicking on their "how we calculate trade-in value" link will be a youtube video of a monkey throwing darts at balloons with random dollar values written on paper inside.